I called Airbnb for the second time yesterday concerning the problem of incomplete verification of guest seeking a reservation. On both occasions Airbnb has told me they were very sorry but it was a glitch in their system. Yesterday, after going through the same problem, and putting on hold the acceptance of the guest’s request, the last CS rep I spoke with said, “Oh yeah, that’s a new thing we are trying. Airbnb is not releasing the photo of the guest to the hosts to make sure that our hosts are not discriminating against guests.” ??? What? So all the time I spent on the phone and through Twitter to figure out if whether my most recent guest inquiries had been verified was for nothing-- in actuality Airbnb is using us as lab rats in some weird social experiment they’re running? I’m sorry, but I am not a child. I am running a business out of my home where my children, husband and I live. Airbnb is not putting themselves at risk, we are. For them not to disclose their “experiment” to us is flat out dishonest and does not show good faith in our relationship. So much more to say here about the direction Airbnb is going, but first and foremost it is obvious that their primary concern is the not the safety of their hosts and their families, but rather their social consciousness. Badly done indeed.
This is INSANE. Then why was I asked to put my pic on the new checkin section ‘so the guests knows how to identify you’ but I can’t identify them? Kermit the frog books and I’m supposed to assume the balding man at my front door is the real guests.
Eg
Picture that comes with booking:
Person knocking on my door
You get the guests photo when the booking is confirmed.
Airbnb does many things in bad faith including changing important booking or review options with no notice.
Question is when will hosts go against it and stop being afraid?
A picture of a guest and verification of a guest are two different things. What kind of verification isn’t happening that makes you concerned?
Honestly, I would much rather host Kermit and/or Greg Fisher* than some of the horrible guests I’ve had with super duper smiley photos.
I know many hosts put a lot of store on profile photos but after hosting hundreds of guests I am now convinced it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. 90% of the time they look nothing like their photo anyway. End of the day, you never really know who is going to show up at your front door and what they’re like.
*He’s the guy in your second photo, in case you didn’t know, very very funny man!
That’s prett funny, I had no idea who it was, just googled ‘balding man’ and picked the first non model like image that came up he he
Did you find the Hamlet cigar advert? Voted one of the funniest ads of all time! He’s been off the scene for many years but was a much-loved (and controversial) comedian.
edit By the way. shame on you for discriminating against bald men 
Is this about not having a photo until booked? I started a thread on that October 10th;
This is the worst! I understand the whole “discriminating” issue but dude, any normal person who would rent his house to someone would like to SEE who he is! And I want to see the owners renting their home blindly!
What can we do? A picture could worth a thousand 1000 dollars at resolution center if having the wrong person staying at your home.
So many times I tried to go against my gut when the profile photo was a few guys/girls holding beer in their hands and cheering. 90% of the times it ended up bad. I don’t care for religion, sex, color or what have you but the photo allowed to learn about the person’s behavior and now it’s taken from us.
Another BAD decision towards the hosts.
Unfortunately, a lot of hosts do care about religion, gender, ethnicity, whatever.
To all the hosts who believe that Airbnb should require guests to post a photo; as it has been proven that many potential guests were victims of discrimination, what measures do you recommend to counter discrimination?
Only recommendation I can think of is self work and education which will never happen obvisouly. This is an individual issue. Some might judge, some don’t.
Let me ask you this: let’s say a host doesn’t see who’s coming but once they are on their doorstep, and he knows he doesn’t like them or what they represent - is that better? In his eyes AirBnb forced him to host someone he doesn’t like and he’s stuck with him/her now.
Airbnb is now the one who makes decisions (sorry, forcing) to counter discrimination.
Yes, of course I think it’s better to not allow business owners to discriminate. I believe that anyone with an ounce of sense realizes that the United States is a better place for desegregation.
Would you accept a guest who had a picture of him holding a pistol or knife or surrounded by empty beer bottles or drugs paraphernalia at some party?
Who’s judgement do you trust - your own or airbnb?
I can see Airbnb’s point about discrimination and I’m sure it does happen. I believe it’s right that they should try to counteract it, but if this means a change in requirements they should be open about this and inform hosts of what they are doing and why.
Like Magwitch, I don’t really set much store by photos. When we ran a traditional B&B we didn’t ask for them (or indeed any identification) and we didn’t have any particular problems, And after all, there’s nothing to stop Greg Fisher putting Daniel Craig’s photo up there! And just imagine how disappointed you would be when he turns up …
There is about a .0000001% chance someone can gain any insights about a guest by the photo. Much greater chance someone is discriminated against. You could ask to see ID at check-in if you are concerned it is not the person who booked. Not sure how they were able to find your place if not for the booking.
I cannot see guest pics in the message section but I can on the host dashboard but only after the reservation is confirmed. I don’t understand why the pic is only available on my dashboard…it strikes me as odd.
I’m not sure pics are a good reference for whether my unit is a good fit for the guest BUT I have relied on it a couple of times. The minimum age to rent my unit is 25 (this has been discussed/questioned thoroughly in another thread). If someone looks underage, I remind them of the minimum age to rent. I had a male guest request an IB for that afternoon. He was already in the area and changing his rental. His pic was of him on the beach with a large group of people, lots of beer in hand, and in full party mode. I felt uncomfortable with his last minute reservation (it felt like he was being forced out of one rental and quickly looking for another) so combined with the pic, I declined his reservation.
People certainly do discriminate based on looks and that’s why Air won’t require pictures. I already suspect I’ve been the victim of age discrimination by an Airbnb host. As I’ve previously said I wouldn’t be surprised if they go to an all IB model with cancellations allowed but you have to give a reason and if your reason doesn’t pass their unknown test or there is a pattern they drop you from the platform.
They do the same with reservation policies. Twice, due to a “glitch,” they allowed instant book reservations shorter than the minimum I’d established. I will say though when you call them on they respond. It’s as if they are testing hosts to see what they can get away with.